The Christmas Demon's Assistant
by JustAnUnstableHalfBreed
Summary: This is an AU for the ending of the 2015 Krampus movie. Max does something dire to save his family from the Christmas Devil...by making himself his assistant -Will contain Max x Der Klown- Cover art by CakeIvy on DA ! (Hiatus)
1. Chapter 1: The Deal

**-Hey everybody! Rubix here and this is my first story that I'm publishing on the site. I saw Krampus a few weeks ago and I absolutely loved it, so I came up with an AU kind of idea. Anyway, enjoy~!-**

Max let out a shaky breath as he trudged forward toward the massive, horned creature that was standing in front of the massive, endless pit of fire and pain. He flinched, hearing Stevie scream and cry, struggling against the grip of the two…'Elves' that held her hostage. The demon silently watched the child approach, seeming to dare him, he who had forgotten what mattered most, to come closer and see if he could try to escape his punishment. "P-Please…" The brown eyed boy stuttered as he finally reached monster he had unleashed upon his family, looking up into the sagging fleshy mask it wore.

"Let them go...This isn't what I wanted…"

Krampus inclined his head, as if to ask a sarcastic kind of 'Oh? But this is what you asked for' before he let out a low, raspy laugh. The sound was horrible to Max's ears and his determination began to falter.

"I just wanted Christmas to be like it used to be."

That earned him the dark, sadistic laughing from not only Krampus himself this time, but from his short, demonic mask wearing minions. That...horrible clown thing in the sleigh was even giggling, clapping it's gloved hands together at the boy's words. The large Yule Goats that lead the sleigh began to butt their heads together, showing their own form of amusement. Max's lower lip began to tremble, and against his will, a few tears began to stream down his face. The monsters continued to laugh...Except for one. The clown had gone silent and now regarded Max curiously as he began to cry, cocking it's head and blinking it's beady black eyes.

"I-I-I know t-this is my fault...P-Please...It's me you want!"

The Christmas Demon's laughed began to slowly die down.

"Please!" Max continued to beg. "I'll do anything!"

That shut Krampus up, and in one swift moment, his skeletal hand caught Max by the chin and forced his head up roughly. Teary brown eyes met sunken in, orange goat eyes. Then, to Max's surprise...The demon spoke.

"Anything?" He rasped in a low, inhuman voice with the noticeable hint of a German accent.

Unable to speak, Max nodded slowly.

"Then I shall make a deal with you, child…" He hissed. "I will release your family on one condition...You become my assistant."

"A-Assistant?" The child repeated, his eyes widened.

"You will come with me to my...home...and do whatever I say and help me whenever I need assistance."

"N-No!" The boy suddenly spat, ripping himself away from Krampus' grip. "I-I'm not going to help you hurt more pe-eople!"

Krampus let out a small growl and turned away from Max. "I see." He raised a clawed hand up to the sky, signaling the Elves to push Stevie into the pit to the Underworld. The creatures cackled and pushed the girl forward, causing her to scream out in fear. Max flinched at the sound of his cousin's scream. She was going to die...They were all going to die...If they weren't dead already. Mom...Dad...Beth…...Omi…..

The child whirled around and ran over to Krampus, grabbing onto his raised arm. "W-WAIT!"

Slowly, the demon turned to look at the child.

"I...I accept…"

~End Chapter 1~


	2. Chapter 2: The Toys are back Baby!

~Chapter 2: The Toys Are Back Baby!~

For what felt like decades, there was only silence. It was as if everything had suddenly frozen. Krampus stared down at Max for such a / _long_ / time. The Elves glanced between their master and prey with almost a kind of nervousness, waiting for their next command. The Yule Goats yielded and Der Klown watched in interest. This wasn't the first time his master had made an offer like this, though it was rare. But...no one ever accepted. This kid - Max, was the first. Slowly, Krampus lowered his raised hand. "Then it is done."

And everything went white….

"Shit!" Snarled the angry voice of the living teddy bear like monster, Teddy Klaue. The fur ball slowly brought himself up to his feet, clutching his eye, which had been shot out by "That bitch!"

"Language Teddy…" A slightly pained, but stern and serious female voice said from the chimney. Perchta, the angel doll, slowly crawled out from the spot she had been shot, clutching her chest with a taloned hand, where she as well had been shot. The response she was greeted with was an irritated growl. "Where's Tik Tok?" The bear asked, in a rather rude tone I might add, removing his clawed hand from his empty eye socket in order to straighten the red bow around his neck. Perchta let out a small huff. In all honesty, these two never got along too well...They never really saw...eye to eye on things. While Perchta was more like the leader of the group, wise, cruel and calculating, Teddy was impulsive, sadistic, and….well...not too bright in all honesty. "I believe he's still in the attic."

As if on cue, the wind-up robot came tumbling down the stairs, a few sparks shooting from his damaged body.

"Tik Tok!" Teddy Klaue exclaimed happily when he saw his robot friend, darting over to him, pulling him to his feet. "How you doing old buddy, old pal? You did great! And I bet you feel great too! You're like a tank! Nothing hurts you!" The plush patted Tik Tok rather roughly on the back, causing him to topple over face down and said in a dull, emotionless and mechanical tone "I can't feel my circuits."

"Oh...Um…"

Perchta scoffed and rolled her bloodshot eyes, causing Teddy to glare at her before he helped the robot up to his feet again. "Don't worry. Master Krampus will come for us and fix us up."

How right he was. A small group of Dark Elves had gathered around the damaged Engel house, entering it to retrieve their injured comrades and take them back home.

"Took you long enough!" Was Teddy's response as one of the Elves scooped him up in his arms. With the toys all gathered, the Elves began to return to the sleigh...but one stopped and looked over his shoulder. For a long moment, he just stared in silence, then walked to the middle of the room, got on his knees...and set down a snow globe with the Engel house inside of it. Attached to it by a chain was an old bell with the words "Gruss Vom Krampus" engraved on it. Silently, the lone creature stood up, not taking his eyes off the items for a long moment, then left with his allies.

When he did, the snow globe cracked.

And everything went white.

~End Chapter 2~


	3. Chapter 3: Awakening

~Chapter 3: Awakening~

"Mhhmmm…" Gentle, innocent brown eyes cracked open, accompanied by a drowsy groan. Max slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes not only to push away his drowsiness, but to protect his eyes from the sunlight that was streaming through the window. Wait a minute...Was he home? Excitement and relief flooded through his body for a brief moment...before he realized this wasn't his room. He was in...a rather decent sized bed with an old quilt covering him. The boy quirked an eyebrow glancing behind him to examine the pillow, picking it up in his hands, which up until now, he had no realized had been trembling. It was...old and full of...feathers? Starting to realize what was going on, Max threw the pillow down in fear, and threw the quilt off him, darting off the bed -and almost tripping in the process- to look out the window.

He opened his mouth to scream or gasp or something...but nothing came out.

Outside the window, was an endless frozen tundra; a place covered in snow and ice, with no signs of civilization anywhere in sight.

Max's breath hitched and for a moment, he thought his heart had shot up to his throat. Slowly, he began to step backwards, desperate to get away from the window. He jumped once his back hit the old, oak wardrobe and, regaining his voice, let out a small scream before he darted out of the room...and stopped right in his tracks.

A long maze of hallways and locked doors greeted him on the outside of the room he had currently been in. But at least there was something comforting. The smell of freshly baked cookies filled Max's sense, and against his will, his stomach gurgled rather loudly. Licking his lips nervously, Max slowly walked over to the door that was emitting the smell, being what he assumed to be the kitchen. After hearing the familiar cackles and giggles of the Elves mixing with the clatter of pots and pans, the boy decided to not open the door. Instead, the brown haired boy continued cautiously through the hall, nervously taking in his surroundings. There had to be a way to escape this place!...But even if there was, where was he going to go? Suddenly, Max stopped dead in his tracks. He had reached the end of the hall, where a large door with that weird...trident symbol carved into it, towered over him like some kind of wooden monster. It was like it was...beckoning to him. The child swallowed anxiously, slowly reaching for the doorknob. His trembling fingers closed around the cool metal as he twisted the knob and opened the door, slowly and cautiously stepping inside. His brown eyes frantically scanned the area. Shelves filled with unfinished toys, many old tools, hundreds to thousands of old books, chains and bells...a stand with a familiar, skinned old man's face resting on it like some kind of hat...table covered with snow globes containing tiny houses inside of them….and sitting in front of the table, thin fingers rubbing the dust off the glass spheres...was the demon. His hood had been pulled over his horns and head, exposing his real face...but he wasn't looking at Max, so the child could not stare at the creature's true face.

"I see you're awake."

-End Chapter 3-


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome Child

~Chapter 4: Welcome Child~

Max stiffened as Krampus slowly lifted himself up to a standing position and turned around in order to face his new assistant. Max's brown eyes widened...This was what he really looked like...The face was like that of...some demonic goat in dark fur, but at the same time, seemed humanoid in quite a few ways.

The child swallowed nervously, unable to speak. But after a few moments, he managed to find his voice. "I..I-I am…"

"Mhm...Are you hungry at all?"

"N-No…" The boy lied, not wishing to eat anything this...monster gave him. And of course his stomach betrayed him by growling loudly.

"Of course you aren't." Krampus snorted, getting up and walking towards the child. At first, Max flinched, thinking the demon would hurt him or something, but instead he just walked past him and to the door. The 12 year old didn't follow at first, but once he gazed around the room once more, he realized that going with Krampus would be much better then being among the unfinished toys, eerie smiles and glassy eyes all aimed at him.

He quickly rushed after the hooved creature. "H-Hey! Wait up!"

"Today I want you to help fix and wash the toys that were injured-"

"W-Wait! What was that r-room? What were those snow globes?"

"-then I want you to help Elves prepare dinner-"

"Hold o-on, We need to tal-"

"-once you finish with that, you must wash my cloak, then you shall be assigned to your room for the night."

"STOP!"

Krampus stopped in his foot...hoofsteps and turned slightly in order to look at the child, clearly annoyed at the way he was speaking to his new master. "Watch your tongue child…" He warned. Max frowned, a small sigh escaping his lips. "I just want to know what all this is…"

"...You will know when I want you to know, child. You must prove yourself to me before that." The demon replied simply, turning forward to begin to walk again. "Now hurry and finish your chores. You need rest as soon as possible. The marking ritual will begin tomorrow."

"Marking ritual? What-?"

"Do you not recall what I just told you?"

"..." Max was silent and turned his gaze to the ground. He could already tell this was going to be horrible. This was practically hell itself. The curly haired boy followed his new master silently as he led him to one of the rooms and simply left him there. The inside was almost what Max would describe as some old fashioned pet hospital. About three Elves were in the room, working on healing and cleaning a familiar teddy bear, angel doll, robot, and a few gingerbread men. Max swallowed nervously when the bear snarled at him in remembrance as he approached the closest Elf. "What do I need to do…?" The Elf glanced at him with a tilted head, then silently pointed to what Max assumed was one of the baths.

Inside was a grotesque creature, with a long, fat tail with a music box on the end, and a clown like face with a split lower jaw and a jester hat. It's tail wagged excitedly. Der Klown was ready for a bath.

~End Chapter 4~


	5. Chp 5: The Good, the Bad, and the Clowny

~Chapter 5: The Good, the Bad, and the Clowny~

Der Klown was always the cheeriest of the group. While he obeyed every dark order his master Krampus gave him, he was always incredibly friendly, like some kind of puppy looking for love. The creature was so excited to see that little boy -Max was his name, right?- again, causing his tail to wag rather violently, the music box thudding dully on the sides of the metal tub.

An expression of disgust spread across Max's features when the Elf pointed at the...thing he was supposed to clean. How was he supposed to do this...One, he hated that thing's slimy guts, and two, it was just...gross, slime and saliva dripping from it's jaws, staining it's polka dotted body.

Hmm? What was with that face? Why was Max looking at him like that? Sure, he had technically eaten his cousin, but no hard feelings...right?

Max scowled as he approached the tub and turned on the facet, causing warm water to start to pool around Der Klown. Why was that monster looking at him like it had done nothing to him or his family. As the water began to fill up the tub, Max gently took a washcloth from a nearby rack and a bar of soap, starting to clean the clown's tail first. Der Klown let out a gleeful coo, but Max kept his eyes focused at the thing's worm like body. He wondered if Jordan was still in there...stuck in there like it was a sack, or had she already been digested? Wait no...Krampus promised that his family was fine...That's why he was here in the first place.

Sarah Engel clung to her husband tightly, her body trembling violently with each sob that escaped her mouth. "O-Our boy...O-Our precious baby boy!" She cried out as Tom did his best to comfort her, gently rubbing her back in a soothing manner.

At first, they awoke in their beds, a totally normal Christmas morning...until they found that cursed bell and that snowglobe. The entire top of it was broken, leaving jagged edges of glass surrounding it. The fluid inside was oddly no longer clear, but thick and black. But the family payed no mind to that. The bell was enough to refresh all their memories of what happened the previous days, and then, in panic, they all began to search for Max. Stevie, the only one who knew what happened to the boy, told everything...and of course, the family was now mourning. Howard let out a sad sigh, rubbing his face in his hands, Linda gently embracing her own children tightly. "H-He's dead b-by now, I k-know it!"

"Ssshh...Ssshh...I'm sure he's okay…" Tom replied gently, though his tone held sadness in it as well. "He'll come back…"

Unknown to any, there was something watching them, but this creature had to relation to Krampus. Crawling forward with it's scrawny, undeveloped legs and four, twig like arms, the small, infantile creature's glowing red eyes stared dully through the window, watching the humans closely...and it's lips twisted into a horrid grin, exposing rows of razor sharp teeth.

"I̛̼̟̫͓̲͘͢ ͈̺͕͓̳͝ͅA̦̰̳̹͜M̶̡͔̀ ̛͡҉̝̩̪T҉̘͙̜̱̻̞H͈̬͓̩͚̠͔̹̮E̢̱͙͎̙͕͈ ̧̥̪͖̭͜M̫̯̱͔͢͜A̫̙̼̼ͅR̶̫͕̙̕A̴̯̱̩̙̦̼̙͉.͏̖͇̬̻̜̰̖̝ ͇̼̹̗͇Y̡̺̜̺̼͙̮ͅƠ̧̪̲U͜҉͖̭͈̗ ̨̠̰͍̝̘̳̩̠̟Ẃ̨̩͚͔͜Ị͉͈̠̬͖Ĺ̡̮̯̺͕̜͘L̷̨̹̱̳̭̰̘͈̤ ̸̮̞̖̺͇͡S̵̱͚͎͍̭͕̬Ú̶̡̺̳F̥̲̦̖̥̼̕F̝̤͙̗̦̰̯̖͟͢E̶͙̙R̠̘̺͞ͅ ̡͚̗̘̼̼̯̱À̤͎͉̘̜̳͍͢ͅN̙͜͟D̴̝̤̠̘ ̨͉̖̮͕͘͝Y̶̢͔̲̝̝͝ͅO̱̤̮̤̯̼U͎̳̘̬̰̰̜̟̩ ͉͚̬̩̖̩͟͜W̵̩̩͖̣̱̞̮̝ͅI̧͙̠L̖̬̖̟̝̺̝̜͔͞͠L̻̥̦͓̥ ̣̱F̴̷̗̺͟A̱L̴̤͙͠L̘̼͕͕̹͢͠.͙͍͔̘͕̻͇͟ ͕̭̳̠̕I̟̦̕͡ ̘̞̹̠S͖̗̜̪̣͇̲H̷͢͏͙̲͙̻̗Ą̸̖̰̹̘͉͝L̲̝̩͕̼̦͖̠͢͜L̤͕̮͍͚̬͔ ͓͕̣̼̳̻G̛͉̝̮̼̜R̨̢̲͇̣̫̰̝͎̞O͠҉̩̦̭̖̬͙̻̲W̲̝̮̘̲̪͘,̢͍̙͈̀ ͟҉̮̗̼̫̮͕̻̝Á̖͍̙͖̦͍̬͓N̤D̴̢̺̱̩͎̭̖̖

̴̝̠̜͠ͅM̱̬̺͓͎̮̲̺̀Ỳ̡̬̻̬ ̴҉̗̻͙̠̘̟C̶̵̫̩̻̩̮̦͉͈H̘̭͇̰̩͞Ḭ͕̮̣͢͡͝L̮̪̱D͚̰̹͓̳͕͈̯͢͡͡ͅR͝͡҉͔͍̣͈̼E̴̵̺̝͢N̛̼͈̘͘͞ ̵̲̲͇̩͇͉͍̱͡W̨͈̣̩͕͙̮͎͘͜I̬̩̙̹͚̥̺̯͢͝L͕̰̻̬̯͖̦̤̕͘͝L̳͎̝̖̝ ̵̞͈̫̠̰̘́͡R͠͏̩̰E̝̖͎I͉̰̤̤̹͖͘͘G͚̦̹̣͙͘N̨̟͍͎͇͡ͅ ̼̞̳͓Ó̯̣̳̳͎͎̰̙V̨͓̯͞Ẹ̣̝̜̣̞̮͟R̮͔̠ ҉̠̥̻̺̩̖̞̤́Y͏҉̲͔Ớ̙͙͚̝̹̦̞͝ͅU̡̱͎͎͞R͚̟ ̹͕̻̙P̻̙͍͞A̜̠̳̻͇͓̙͙͡T͔͓̮̙̱̤̭̺͟͟H͜͏̖̤͉̝̘̰̼̬È͢͏̺͈̮T̞̰͈͙̘͕I͕̹̼͕͇̦̜͈͜͞͝Ć̟͙ ̵̛̙͎̦P̢̫̪L̮̤͚̪̹͉A̷̘̥̜̬̱͕̖N͓̼̖̳̣͖̠̯͡E̲̥̼͡͞͠ͅͅT̙͝.͉͓͕̦̙̙̝̞ ̹̤̀͠"

̡҉̠͓̙̠

~End Chapter 5~


	6. Chapter 6: Max is So Done

~Chapter 6: Max is So Done~

Max ran a hand through his now soaking wet hair, an irritated sigh escaping his lips. Der Klown, wrapped up nice and neat in a towel, let out a cheerful coo and reached his arms out to the boy, as if to give him a hug.

Seeing this, Max's lips curled down into an uneasy frown as he pushed the demonic toy away from him with one hand. "N-No thanks…" Cleaning this thing had been harder than he expected. The clown was like a child, splashing about all the time which caused the brown eyed boy to get, well, soaking wet.

The creature let out a disappointed whine when Max refused his affection, but the boy said nothing and quickly continued on to his next chore.

It was worse than the first.

The Elves were totally chaotic about making food, which I might add was mainly sugary Christmas treats. As soon as Max entered, he was suddenly in the middle of a 'utensil fight, causing him to immediately be struck in the chest by a flying cookie pan. Instantly, the brown haired boy staggered back in a mix of surprise in pain, a yelp of surprise. At the high pitched sound caused the masked creatures to pause and look at the boy and go silent...only to start cackling and continuing their game seconds after.

This was pretty much how it was making dinner. Pure hell.

About an hour later, after cleaning himself up and eating a small portion of food for his dinner, Max moved on to do the chore that he found out he enjoyed the most. Cleaning Krampus' cloak meant he was alone in peace and solitude.

Once everything was all done, Max, ignoring everyone for the night, retired to his room as Krampus said he could, and flopped down on his bed, exhausted. He was going to hate it here.

Every member of the Engel family tossed and turned in their beds, dark nightmares swirling about their minds as they slept. Nightmares about Max, the monsters that had attacked them, and horrible things in general swarmed through their brains.

"Max...Max...Max!" Sarah shot up on her bed in a cold sweat, panting heavily with fear. Hearing his wife awaken, Tom let out a small groan and sat up. "Honey? What's wrong?"

"I had...a nightmare...about...Max…"

"...Me too…"

Sarah's green eyes flickered to her husband's as he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed a soft kiss on her temple. "We can't give up hope yet…"

She was feeding now. The nightmares. The fear. Her simple presence was the cause. Her slimy body was pulsing greatly as she began to molt off her old, infant skin, revealing her newer, adult skin underneath. Her four arms, each tipped with four powerful claws gripped the dirt and pawed at it, leaving long claw marks in the earth beneath her. The skin on her skeletal back began to bubble as the now human sized Mara raised up to her thin, hind legs...and hissed.

~End Chapter 6~


	7. The Marking Ritual

After a rather sleepless night, Max was rudely awakened by one of the demonic elves, grubby little hands ripping off his protective covers, exposing his skin to the cold air as it took a rough hold of his arms and pulled him to his feet.

It was time for the **marking ritual**.

Of course he struggled and protested, fearful and unsure about that was even happening as he was dragged to a new room by the masked creatures that refused to bless him with any communication, verbal or not.

His breath left him when he was brought into the dark room, cold walls alight with many steel torches with heads that danced with a glowing flame. There was something…. _ **intimidating**_ about this massive room, and perhaps it was all the eyes of the elves that had aligned themselves in orderly lines with a way parted for him, glowing through the hollow holes of their masks.

He was forced onto his knees as the reached **him** , raised up on a pedestal covered in ancient pagan carvings. The elves that had him restrained released their grip on him due to a non verbal command by their master, who gave a quick gesture of his ugly hand. The one in the plague mask scurried forward, taking a tight hold of a metal pole (perhaps a poker of some sort?) that had been carefully heating amongst the center of burning tip, alight with a searing orange shade, brandished a familiar, trident symbol that decorated the false skins and masks of the great Christmas Demon's minions.

It was a **brand**.

It took a mere seven seconds for Max's brain to put the pieces together. His blood turned to ice, all his muscles tensing and locking his small form into place like a deer in the headlights.

"Maxwell Engel." Krampus bellowed from his raised totem, pointing an elongated, finger at the fear-frozen boy. "You have promised your soul to me, and you are indebted to me eternally, lest I release you to freedom. You are now one of my dark children."

The elf came closer, raising the brand towards his face. Max's mouth gaped like a fish, wanting to scream though his lungs refused.

" _Willkommen in der Familie, mein Kind._ "

The brand pressed against his forehead, and Max **screamed**.

* * *

 _She was a mother now._

 _Another foul, pulsating egg, a perfect, yellow, gelatinous orb forced itself out of her mature body to join its kin- all 58 of them and_ _counting_ _. One began to tremble and wobble, the leathery outside bursting in a spill of afterbirth and other fluids as her first youngling crawled to greet her._

 _She turned, moving all four of her long arms across the cavern floor (the one she had made beneath the house of her main meal) and nuzzled the more rounded head of her offspring._

 _ **Soon**_ _, she thought._ _ **Soon she would be ready to reclaim what was her own.**_

* * *

The sobs that came from Max's room physically hurt him.

Der Klown pressed his gloved hands against his chest, curling his tail around himself tighter with each agonized cry that came from the poor child's room. He wanted to make his new friend feel better...but how?

Then an idea hit him...but hopefully the master wouldn't learn of it.

* * *

Krampus was not a heartless beast. The tears and the pain that had filled the human child's brown eyes did sway his abet icy heart, but the ritual was something that needed to be done, something to bound them together as master and minion.

The great demon's toy tinkerings were interrupted when the door to his workshop burst open, a small figure with sticking out a false, wooden tongue rushing through in a panic.

"Stekkjarstaur? What's wrong, my elf friend?"

The dark elf failed his arms, spitting out a rush of German before holding up a shattered snow globe and an..unfamiliar elf mask.

"No…" The demon whispered, realization setting in.

The Mara was _**free**_.

* * *

 **I rushed this out to get this to you guys on Christmas! More should hopefully come soon! By the way, Krampus said "Welcome to the family, my child." during the ritual.**


End file.
